Love in Dreams: Rescue (5 page)

“That’s a good boy,” Cass said, pacing in a small circle. “I
have no idea what I’m going to do with you. What have I done? I have no idea.
Not a freaking clue. I could be moving tomorrow. Or next week. Or never. Do you
understand that?”

Oddly, it seemed like those green eyes
did
understand
some part of what Cass was venting.

“Will you follow me?” She tugged gently on the chain and
pointed. “We’ll go over there, to my place.”

The wolf-dog stood on shaky legs and started walking toward
Cass’s cabin.

“Okay then, this will be easy.”

The pair padded over to the back door, and Cass guided her
new companion into the unfinished back room. It was a reasonable space – about the
size of the kitchen, but without any refinements. Just large squares of
particle board for the floor and bare gray sheetrock for walls, the color so
similar to the wolf-dog’s scraggy coat that he blended in with each panel he
passed. An old recliner sat in one corner, along with a TV tray and several
boxes.

“I guess you’ll stay in here,” Cass said. She approached the
wolf-dog slowly and reached for his collar. He stayed calm as she unbuckled the
thick leather strap. When it fell away, Cass cringed. The leather had worn a
wide bare spot along the animal’s neck.

“Jesus,” she whispered. She massaged the area with a tender
touch, falling into a trance as she tried to soothe all of the aches that must
have lurked within. There was a warmth to the animal that pulled her toward
him; what was meant to be a quick gesture turned into a concentrated effort.
The wolf-dog sank to the floor and accepted Cass’s ministrations with a low
groan. Soon, he was asleep, or at least appeared to be. Cass eventually stood
and retrieved a bowl of water from the kitchen.

“This is temporary,” she said softly. “Only temporary.”

Then she clicked the kitchen door shut and stumbled to the
living room for a nap. The excitement of facing her first day had faded with
the afternoon sunlight. She flopped on to the couch and landed with a thud,
spinning into sleep within seconds.

~~~

Desert again. Clouds of sand blowing hard across the medical
compound. Visibility down to almost zero. Nurse Cass stumbles, blind, her arms
outstretched until they bump against a wall of canvas. She pushes it. She
grasps for an opening. Finally, a gap. She falls into a dimly lit space.

“You made it,” he says softly.

He’s sitting up on the cot, leaning back against a wedge of
pillows. Still gaunt, but his skin gives off a healthier glow. He’s shirtless,
and wears only standard issue thin cotton boxers.

Relief. Pure relief. Cass can’t withhold her smile, breaking
into a huge grin. The power between them is nearly palpable, as if the air is
heavy with...

Lust.

Cass knows in her core that this lust binds them.

“You look good,” she says, nonchalant and flirting,
exaggerating her hip sway as she walks toward him.

“Thanks to you. Although I’m embarrassed to be so scruffy in
the company of someone so pretty.” His voice cracks. He’s trying to appear
stronger than he truly feels.

Cass blushes. She’s wearing camo pants and a standard dark
green tank top that’s tight against her chest. She’s not wearing a bra. The
outlines of her nipples press against the thin fabric. She’s not embarrassed.

She’s ready.

Cass walks around the man, judging him, pursing her lips and
extending the facade of a true medical examination. She stops at his side,
takes his hand, and brings it toward her stomach. Then, under the fabric of her
shirt. His palm is pure heat against her taut belly. She guides it higher,
higher, until he cups her breast and lets out a small sigh. Cass closes her
eyes. Her head tips back slightly.

They have done this before. He knows how to take her nipple
between two fingers and twist lightly, teasing her until the tender skin grows
tight and firm. He leans forward. He pushes her shirt up until her breasts
surge free, unencumbered. His lips meet her nipple in a rough and wet spark of
electricity. Cass gasps and works her fingers into his hair, holding him close
to her chest and covering his forehead with light kisses. She’s already woozy
with desire. There is something about him – his aura, the heat radiating from
his fingertips – that overwhelms her.

He moves between her nipples, right then left then right
again, sucking and squeezing until Cass is trembling and balancing on wobbly
legs. Her full breasts glow in the light of a small lamp. It’s steamy in the
tent. There’s a slow, wonderful heat building between Cass’s legs. A rivulet of
sweat mixes with the fine desert dust at her collarbone, running salty and
streaky down her center, but the man pays no heed. He laps at Cass, enraptured,
until his lips are as shiny as her wet nipples.

She pushes him away playfully. Their eyes meet. His glow a
gentle, muted green. They press their lips together in a kiss so warm that Cass
can’t help but descend to the cot, straddling the man and feeling his hardness
surge against her.

His eyes are green
.

Cass struggles to find meaning within the hazy cloudiness of
her lust. She’s working her hips in slow circles, grinding against the man as
their tongues meet in the frenzied swirls of frantic kisses. He’s hard. So
hard. She’s wet, like he’s unlocked a flood within her. Each time she
compresses her clit against his shaft she sees stars. The sensation drives away
any other thoughts. Even with thin strips of fabric between them, it feels like
their skin is melting together – his cock slides slippery against her and she’s
so ready for him that she moans into every kiss.

 Cass’s shirt is bunched above her breasts. She yanks
it free, tossing it away. She leans back, the man pressing hard against her
chest. She balances with her hands on his powerful thighs.

He unfastens her belt and the top button of her pants. He
tugs the zipper down and slides a hand between her legs. His fingers are like
cones of fire. He presses softly against her damp panties, then harder. He
squeezes her tit as he fingers her through the wet cotton, making her writhe
and cry out with each exploration. She wants him inside her. She’s opening to
him, her sex blossoming and sticky wet now. His cock is urgent underneath her.

Cass snaps her head down and throws herself forward. She
pins his arms. Their faces are inches apart. They pant in unison. Sweat drips
from her temples. Her breasts brush deliciously against his hot skin. He
stretches forward, licking her neck and inhaling deeply. Her scent seems to
send him into a crazed state. He strains against her. He thrusts upward, as if
he can’t control his urges. He growls. He shouts and bares his teeth. He clamps
them on her neck, gnawing hard enough to make her convulse in pained ecstasy.
He jerks his arms free and rakes his nails down her back viciously. Cass
shrieks and arches backward. He sits up, wrapping his arms around Cass in a
swift movement. He buries his face in her chest, compressing her breasts and
nipping at her. He flips her over. She’s on the cot, vulnerable. The man looms
above. His boxers have vanished. His cock is full and hard.

His eyes are green
.

The man smiles and his teeth look like fangs. His eyes glow
brighter now. His eagerness is frightening. Cass can’t move. She’s helpless as
he shoves a knee between her legs and parts them roughly. She flexes up and
tries to kick against his haunches, but her motions only spur him on. Her chest
heaves. He rakes a hand against her breasts, pushing them together, releasing
them, tweaking them, driving her mad with panicky heat. She’s desperate. He’s
torn her pants, or they’ve disappeared into dream-space. She’s naked underneath
him and his cock rests thick and heavy against the small patch of hair above
her quivering entrance. He’s long and thick; his cockhead presses on her belly
and his balls grind against her pussy as he stops to suck wildly at her nipple.
He sways back and then forward, his cockhead darting in a quick pulse against
her lips, coating his tip with her juices before pulling away. Cass’s clinging
wetness connects them like a fine strand of gossamer in the dim light.

The contact triggers something inside Cass, in her very
center. She craves his penetration even if it ruins her. She relents, letting
her legs fall open. He squeezes in closer. He bends down and slowly, savagely
opens his jaw wide. Now his teeth are like talons. He places them against her
neck.

“No,” Cass whispers. Her body is crying out for him, but her
mind, somewhere, is still resistant. “No. Please.”

The man growls. He shifts his hips, confused. His cock
brushes hard against her inner thigh, waiting. For what? To torture her? To
listen to her cries for mercy?

“No,” Cass says again. He is pushing harder, harder, ready
to batter down her defenses.

She screams. “No no no!”

The man’s teeth close hard on her throat. Cass knows she’s
about to be pierced. Impaled. Ravaged within an inch of her life.

One more time: “No!” She flings her body upward, hurling the
man to the side. She’s crazed. Possessed. Furious. She jumps down to where he
should be. An angry cry ready in her throat, fist raised, Cass is moments away
from pummeling him until he’s bloody and broken.

There is no one. Only the sandy canvas floor and a cotton
sheet. Wind whips outside the tent and then stops.

The tent vanishes. The entire world vanishes.

~~~

Cass woke up alone in blackness. Her shirt was damp with a
night terror’s cold sweat. She breathed in short, quick bursts. A dull heat
throbbed between her legs.

She ached.

It was the remnant of a level of sheer desire she’d never
before experienced, combined with the nightmare-fueled fear that still coursed
through her veins. She looked around, still partly bewildered and expecting to
find herself in a tent. She’d slept late, past sunset. The cabin was dark and
the only sound she heard was the dull hum of the refrigerator.

“What a fucking day,” Cass groaned, sitting up and feeling
her brain do a flip as her equilibrium adjusted. She unwound the band around
her ponytail and worked her fingers through her hair in a slow massage. “Why
can’t I just sleep? And why, apparently, am I so fucking horny?”

She figured her brain was twisted in knots trying to wrap
itself around her current situation. She’d fled home, saved a weird wolf-dog
from a mean old lady, and cringed at every sound, thinking Preston was about to
jump out of a shadow.

So it sort of made sense, she supposed. Her subconscious was
turning her dreams into a twisted erotic sexfest that left her haggard and
spent each time she awoke.

“Why not?” she said wryly. “What else should I expect at
this point? A normal picnic in the park, maybe some heavy petting?”

Cass stumbled to the kitchen, flicking lights on along the
way. There were no sounds of movement from the back room and that was fine with
her. The wolf-dog scared her a bit. Better to stay separate. She’d feed him,
check his water, and leave him there for the night. The next day she’d drive to
town and try to find him a permanent home.

She chopped up a quick stir fry, and while the pan heated on
the stove, she filled a bowl with dog food. For some reason, she knocked on the
door to the back room before she opened it.

“You there?” she asked.

There was a soft sigh from the corner. Cass pushed the door
completely open and a beam of light found the wolf-dog curled up near the old
recliner. He lifted his head slightly when she set the food down, then blinked at
her and rested again.

“That’s it?”

Cass waited. The animal didn’t move. If she hadn’t known
better, she would have thought it was afraid of her. Was it cowering?

“You’re weird, dog-wolf thing,” she said. “But there’s your
food. I guess, um, if you have to go out you can scratch on the door there and
I’ll come let you out.”

Cass left the kitchen door open for a few minutes, wondering
if the dog would venture in. Part of her hoped he would, and part was screaming
at her to lock the door. Once her food was ready, she did, clicking the lock
and double-checking it before dining with “Sixteen Candles” playing on the
small combo TV/VCR in the living room.

She didn’t know what to expect when she pulled the covers up
to her chin that night. The cabin was cool; the weather must have shifted that
evening and she’d probably have to gather firewood for the wood stove soon.

“Good sleeping weather,” she told herself, trying to believe
it.

It took a long time for her to slip away. When she did drift
off, it was into a restful, if empty, dreamscape. No adventures. No heat.

Simple sleep, for once.

~~~

A gray, windy morning greeted Cass when she opened her eyes.
Whitecaps whipped across the lake and pine trees swayed, their cones thunking
off the roof and on to Cass’s car. It was past ten, and Cass felt like she
could sleep another twelve hours straight.

She heard the wolf-dog pacing in the back room. His claws
clicked against the floor, his pace quick.

“Shit!” Cass whispered. He’d been locked up for so long. She
heaved herself off the couch and shuffled through the kitchen. When she opened
the door to the back room, she saw the animal half-trotting in a circle around
the room.

“Sorry about that, boy,” she said, trying to sound cheery.
There was something about the wolf-dog’s manner that struck her as different;
the odd dream the day before also gave her pause.

“Green eyes,” she murmured. “His eyes are green.”

Cass opened the door to the porch. A cool blast of air cut
through her pajamas. Shivering, she waved at the wolf-dog.

“Go on, go out if you have to,” she said. Still wobbly and
warm from the emotional resonance of her desert encounters, she was strangely
confident he would return on his own. No need for the chain anymore.